Prayers of Faith
Notes
Transcript
Bible Passage: Mark 11:20-25
Bible Passage: Mark 11:20-25
INTRO
INTRO
“Soma Church exists to love the body of Christ and equip them to do the work of ministry here, near and far, all for the glory of God.”
“Soma Church exists to love the body of Christ and equip them to do the work of ministry here, near and far, all for the glory of God.”
What is your first response when something in your life happens that feels to big to handle?
Our church has been officially launched now for about 2.5 years but the process of getting this place up and off the ground began much earlier than 2.5 years ago.
January of 2023 was the first moment where the whisper of God’s voice was very clearly in speaking into the ears of our soul pushing us towards what was next.
By summer that year, we said goodbye to a place that we called home for 5 years to set out on a journey that has formed us more deeply than anything we have ever done.
Very quickly, the weight of what we were setting out to do began to set in.
Raising our salary, crafting a church budget, casting vision, evangelizing, pastoring people. All of the things that go with being a local church pastor but also starting something out of nothing.
And for those of you who have journeyed with us from the beginning have gotten to see first hand how that took a toll on my family, my marriage and my self.
Now, I share that with you this morning not as a means of gaining any sort of sympathy from you (you all have been so gracious and kind even through some of the hardest of circumstances) but more as a confession.
There are so many things that I wish I had done differently…
And at the top of my list would be I wish I would have prayed more often and more dependently.
Don’t get me wrong, we prayed a whole lot, but if I am just as honest as I can be, prayer in that season had far less to do with crying out to the God who I am desperate for and who hears me and more to do with strategy.
It was a thing that I tacked on to the work but it wasn’t the primary go to.
It was the big mac sauce but not the whole sandwich.
Circling back to the question I asked at the beginning, my answer would be: analyze, strategize and execute.
But what if there was something more than our anxious and self reliant responses to the insurmountable tasks and weights of the world we live in?
There is… Prayer. And not prayer as an add on to our plans or control of our life but as the go to. A kind of prayer that says, “God if you don’t do this, it won’t happen.” or “God, all I want out of this situation is more of you.”
BODY
BODY
The last two weeks in our study through Mark we have gotten to see first hand how the jewish people have really missed this.
Their religion is dead, the worship is empty to the point that that are exploiting people in the temple who have come to worship Yaweh and don’t even recognize when their God is walking among them.
And last week specifically kicked off with Jesus walking back into the city of Jerusalem and on His way in He was hungry.
He sees a fig tree that has no fruit even though it looks like it should, he curses the tree, walks into the city and cleanses the temple.
We are picking back up the day after all of those events take place and our story begins like this…
As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.”
let it be known that everything that proceeds from the mouth of God will come to pass. period, full stop.
If Jesus curses a tree it shall be accursed. If Jesus blesses you, you shall be blessed and if He calls you clean then clean you shall be.
Just to be sure and anchor us to the larger story that Mark is telling us, we said last week that this fig tree is an allegory for the jewish people.
They are no longer fulfilling the purpose that God has for them to bear fruit and bless the nations with the knowledge and love of the one true God.
So the curse that comes from Jesus to this tree is as if He is saying it to the Jews. No longer will they be the ones through which God will interact with the world.
We see this fully take place in the book of Acts with the establishment of the church which is now who God will use to draw the world to Himself.
The tree has withered just as the dead and godless religion of judaism has.
But Jesus follows up Peters observation of the tree with this statement…
And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.
Marks account makes it feel kind of choppy because Peter didn’t really ask a question, he simply observed and then all of a sudden, Jesus is telling them to have faith and talks about prayer.
But there is a parallel account of this story in Matthew 21 that goes into a little more detail of the conversation they had…
When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”
Ya know, I cannot tell you bow many times my conversations with Jesus have sounded a lot like this one.
Starts off with a question like the disciples…
“Jesus, how do I fix my marriage?” “Jesus, how do I fix my budget?” “Jesus, How do I pastor these people?” “Jesus, how do I preach and lead so people will wanna listen?”
I wonder, what is your “Jesus, how do I?”
Is that not one of the things that so widely plagues the world we live in today? Are we not living in a day in which people are constantly asking to see who God is and what His power is all about? Is this room not full of people who are asking the same questions?
Asking is right because God invites us to ask Him even our most dangerous and difficult questions. And He is a good God who’s heart is to answer and to give
Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
So then why do we still have people who don’t believe and never receive?
It’s because we are never willing to go past the initial act of asking.
Jesus said Mark 11:23-25
Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”
To go beyond the question means that we have to enter into places that are outside of ourselves and church listen to me… That is the point.
God isn’t interested in a relationship that doesn’t require us to need Him.
If we are to see things happen in our lives that are good, beautiful and true it will happen because we have placed our full vote of confidence upon the God who can do all things.
And with Him you can look at a mountain (Which represents doubt) and tell it to be moved.
With Him you can ask Him anything in faith and believe that it will be done
Let me caveat that because there have been times in my life that I have asked for things and they have not happened. Maybe you have similar stories which is why we need the Bible in context
And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
So when we pray, are the things we are asking for God honoring? Are they holy? Are they for the benefit of others or do our prayer feed our own prideful and sinful agenda and our act of praying is hoping that God will give His stamp of approval?
And He gives one more attachment to the effectiveness of our prayers… Forgiveness.
Unforgiveness corrupts the lines of communication that we have with God.
This is not to say that God doesn’t hear us but it is more like going to your dad asking for a treat and he graciously says “Go clean your room first.”
But here is the bottom line… We worship a God who is deeply personal and He has demonstrated this by an invitation to come and pray
I love the Lord, because he has heard
my voice and my pleas for mercy.
Because he inclined his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
CLOSING
CLOSING
You have been invited by the God of the universe into a beauty and satisfying life of communion with God through prayer.
Prayer is what keeps us from becoming the olive tree that has leaves but no fruit. because prayer grounds us in the reality that the one we love is not of this world. It reminds us that we are dependent and our Father is quick to come to our aid.
Jason Scott prayer meeting
Let us remind ourselves one more time what Jesus said… Have faith in God
Maybe this week a small step of faith looks like picking up the spiritual phone dialing up God’s throne room and making up for lost time. God will be so happy you called.
Maybe it is time for your prayer life to mature beyond just asking God for things and begin to move towards prayer as communion with God.
Maybe faith looks like praying for the first time today and asking God to save you from your sin.
Whatever that looks like for you, know this… God hears you and He loves the sound of your voice. So ask and receive!
PRAY
